A Recipe for a Non-Traditional Marketing Plan

Please welcome Monica Bhide to Writer Unboxed as our newest regular contributor! Monica is is an award winning writer, literary coach, poet, storyteller, and educator. She is the author of the novel Karma and the Art of Butter Chicken, which has just been nominated for the Library of Virginia Literary Awards, fiction category! (Congratulations, Monica!)

As a bestselling fiction and internationally renowned cookbook author, she is known for sharing food, culture, mystery, and love in her writing. That’s why we thought a column on recipes for writing success seemed ideal. Welcome, Monica!

I was a traditionally published nonfiction author, by Simon & Schuster and other houses. I wrote for major newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune) and magazines (Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Parents). People in my industry were aware of my work. And then, in 2014, I wrote and independently published a collection of short stories. When I reached out to dozens of traditional media for reviews—or even just to ask them to take a peek at the book—I was mostly met by closed doors. The reason: “We don’t consider independently published books.”

After hearing so many nos when I’d hoped for yeses, I thought perhaps I had made a mistake writing fiction. So I focused anew on my well-established platform of food writing. I published a memoir featuring my food essays that had appeared in various traditional publications. In late 2014 and early 2015, I pitched the book to multiple outlets. The response was a little better—the Washington Post and Mint (a leading Indian business newspaper) gave it good consideration—but I got the same negative reply from many others: “We do not cover independently published books.” Everyone had said having a platform would help, but it did not.

Marketing my books was proving to be a discouraging challenge. I was disappointed and, honestly, had begun to doubt myself and my decision to become an indie author.

Then I had a revelation: If I was going to publish nontraditionally, then I had to market nontraditionally.

When I released Karma and the Art of Butter Chicken, my debut food fiction, in late 2016, I changed my marketing approach. I am sharing my experiences here in the hope that they will inspire and motivate you to create your own nontraditional marketing plan. Mine now includes the following elements.

Contact Organizations: For all of my six previous books, I had focused solely on traditional print media, hoping that reviews and/or interviews would sell books. For Karma, too, I created a press release—but in the end I did not send it out. Instead, I began to think about how I could go directly to my readers. Since the book is food fiction, I approached food retailing chains and food event organizers, as well as book fairs and institutions like the National Press Club and the Smithsonian (I live in the Washington, DC area). These all have mailing lists and can reach a large audience. I already had relationships with some of them, but not all. I prepared a strong pitch on why my book would be interesting to their audiences and then came up with a unique angle (what my old boss used to call “the difference that makes the difference”). The novel is about a young man who wants to start a charity kitchen, so in my pitch I suggested menus he might create. This worked well as it made the novel “come to life” in the form of a meal. I am happy to report it worked: the Smithsonian, National Press Club, University Club Book Fair, Virginia Festival of Books[1], and many other organizations agreed to host events for me, as did Whole Foods (more on that later). The key was to approach them with a professional product and a good business idea. Think about your novel from a reader’s perspective: Who are the likely readers, and where are they to be found? Then focus on pitching your book to those organizations and events.

Create Add-Ons: I decided to create merchandise around the book. Most people will tell you to wait until you have a million followers before you do any such thing; I decided to start where I was. I created a free e-cookbook to pair with my novel so that book club members could actually taste my hero’s food while discussing the book. I also asked a friend to create a jewelry line to match the jewelry depicted on the book cover. This was not a financial arrangement, but rather a way for both of us to get publicity for our new ventures. Think about whom you could partner with for your book: Who would make a great companion for the protagonist in the book? What are the merchandizing opportunities for your book? See if you can create three add-ons for your book that will make it stand out from the crowd.

Reach Out to Related Retailers: Since my previous books were on food, I approached branches of stores like Whole Foods Market to see if they would be willing to host an event with me discussing the novel and offering a food pairing to go with it. This was tremendously successful locally, and I am now working on regional and national levels. Ask yourself if you can work with a tea shop, wine store, art gallery, hair salon, gift shop, craft store, painting workshop . . . Depending on what’s in your book, the possibilities are endless.

Meet with Book Clubs: I used Facebook a lot for this. I reached out to book clubs that had read my previous books, and to new ones, to ask if they would like to have me talk with them. Many of them were delighted by the idea of getting the free e-cookbook and making a simple Indian meal, then having me over (in person or on the phone) to discuss the book with them. This was one of the most rewarding experiences for me. There are many of ways to find book clubs. The best way I know is to just ask friends who like to read, and go from there.

Visit Independent Bookstores: Finally, I tried the one thing I was terrified of doing as I did not want to hear yet another “no”: I reached out to small, independent bookstores to see if they would be willing to host a ticketed dinner at a local restaurant, highlighting my book. This worked in Richmond, Virginia, with a sold-out event by the wonderful Fountain Books. Having events at an independent store may be a baby step for big houses, but for an indie like me, it was a huge step. Reach out to your local bookstores; many of them are just wonderful to work with. Talk to them about doing readings, Q&A sessions, food pairings with your book, demonstrations, etc. . . Some bookstores will do a wine pairing or let you demo a craft that supports your book.

I have just one request: Don’t throw out any of these approaches before studying it to see if it is worth your time to follow up on it. Think about your own book with out-of-the-box marketing ideas. Some may work, and some may not. But don’t dismiss anything until you consider it fully.

And for those of you wondering if I hired a publicist . . . it is as an old friend said: “Trust Allah, but tie your camel.”

[1] I had to excuse myself from this event as I am dealing with a medical issue at home.

Monica Bhide is an award winning writer, literary coach, poet, storyteller, and educator. As a bestselling fiction and internationally renowned cookbook author, Bhide is known for sharing food, culture, mystery, and love in her writing. Having roots and experience in many places, Bhide inspires readers everywhere with present day stories which transcend cultural, chronological, geographical, economical, and religious borders.

Bhide’s short story collection, The Devil in Us, topped the list on Kindle as a bestseller in its category of Literary Short Fiction. Her memoir, A Life of Spice, was picked by Eat Your Books as one of the top five food memoirs of 2015. Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi picked Bhide’s Modern Spice (Simon & Schuster, 2009), as one of the “Best Books Ever” for Newsweek in 2009.

A respected writing authority, Bhide appears regularly on NPR and conducts sold-out workshops on writing, food, culture, and scheduled speaking events at prestigious venues as the Smithsonian Institution, Sackler Gallery, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Georgetown University, and Yale University. She has taught all over the world including conferences in London, Dubai, US etc. She has also been the “Writing Coach in Residence” for the annual conference of the Association of Food Journalists.

Comments

In the fiction series I’m working on, one of my main characters is a fry cook and some of my beta-readers commented on how they’d like more recipes included in the story. Your idea of releasing a free e-cookbook is a great idea, and I might end up doing something similar.

Some solid suggestions, Monica. Tough for writers to stand out these days if they stay inside the box when it comes to marketing.

To truly succeed, we need to collapse the box, fold it into a funny hat, and then burn the hat and dance around the fire.

With that in mind, here are several of my own marketing/promotion ideas for writers:

1) BE YOUR BOOK. Convert your book cover into a wearable sandwich board and wear it out in public. All the time. Even at your job. Don’t worry if your coworkers ridicule you and your boss writes you up repeatedly for dress-code violations. You’ll be quitting that job in no time due to the almost guaranteed success of this brilliant book marketing approach. (Please keep in mind that, for some jobs, such as underwater welder and funeral director, wearing a sandwich board may not be feasible or practical.)

2) VIDEO-BOMB BREAKING NEWS with your book in hand. You know how there’s always some idiot in the background waving at the camera while a TV reporter is covering a big breaking news story? Be that idiot. Only smarter. Waving your hand at tens or hundreds of thousands of captivated viewers watching news breaking is moronic. Waving your book at them is genius, assuming the book’s not upside down and you’re not waving it so vigorously the people can’t read the title. Otherwise you’re back to just being an idiot. The challenge with this tactic is being in the right place at the right time. You’ll need to hang out at or around places where horrible things happen on a regular basis, like an active fault line, a public school or a Walmart. It’ll take some patience and resolve, but the payoff is worth it. The only way to get more free exposure for your book is to murder a celebrity during your launch, and I simply can’t with good conscience recommend that.

3) MURDER A CELEBRITY DURING YOUR LAUNCH. I know I just said I couldn’t with good conscience recommend this tactic, but we’re talking about marketing here and thus good conscience is moot. Still and all, this tactic should be considered only as a last resort – unless you have easy access to any reality TV stars, in which case you should bump this up to #1 on this list.

DISCLAIMER: I’m off my meds and refuse to be held responsible for any sage advice I may have provided in this post.

Monica, What a helpful and enlightening post! And perfect timing for me – you encouraged me to revamp my marketing for my debut novel. Caramel cake and conch chowder are featured in the book, and a free recipe book is a great idea! Thank you!

Wow, Monica, this is really good. As a reader, I love when characters cook or have a dinner scene and the food is described. I was reading about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke and his meal of figs, melon, artichoke, and tomatoes over rice. Gosh, it sounded so appealing, I had to make it. You are certainly blessed to have a successful nonfiction foundation before you moved into fiction. I think the biggest obstacle for a new fiction author to get into local bookshops or gift and specialty shops is that most of these shop owners/managers want to see a sales track record or established literary reputation. For a first-time fiction author, getting your first 100 miles, so to speak, is a slow grind. I agree with your comments about book clubs–very stimulating, and the doors are more easily opened.

Your ideas for non-traditional marketing are great and the concept that authors use their own non-traditional marketing ideas is sound. Here is the problem: The majority of writers who read this will try to copy your ideas without developing their own truly unique ways of marketing books. For the record, I have been using non-traditional marketing techniques since I self-published my first book in 1989.

Here is my best advice for authors who want to sell a lot more copies of their books. Don’t do what the majority is doing. Instead, do the exact opposite of what the majority is doing.

Bob Baker offers some powerful advice about creative book marketing. Check out Bob Baker’s 2010 blog post (“How to Become a Book Marketing Ninja”) relating to this.

“Reconsider all of your marketing tactics. One of the biggest promotional mistakes you can make is doing something just because that’s the way it’s always been done before. Just because everyone else pursues book reviews, bookstore distribution, library sales, and media exposure in a certain way (or even Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn), that doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Think in terms of opposites. Make a list of all the specific things that major book publishers and mainstream authors do to promote their books. Then imagine what would happen if you did the exact opposite.”

“What if you never did public appearances or book signings? Or made your books available only on USB drives? What if you were mysterious and never displayed your photo and never did interviews?”

Also forget about all the other trendy stuff like “establishing a brand.” As Seth Godin stated, “Selling yourself as a brand sells you too cheap.”

A lot of authors and so-called “book marketing experts” want to dismiss some of the principles that I advocate. Given that my books have sold over 950,000 copies worldwide, I know much more than 99 percent of authors know about what it takes to be a success at this game. If you want to make it as a international best-selling author, having earned over $2.4 million of pretax profits from your books, these words of wisdom apply:

“The great creative individual . . . is capable of more wisdom and virtue than collective man ever can be.” — John Stuart Mill

“When you do work that matters, the crowd will call you a fool. If you do something remarkable, something new and something important, not everyone will understand it (at first). Your work is for someone, not everyone. Unless you’re surrounded only by someones, you will almost certainly encounter everyone. And when you do, they will jeer. That’s how you’ll know you might be onto something.” — Seth Godin

“It’s better to do a sub-par job on the right project than an excellent job on the wrong project.” — Robert J. Ringer

“A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.” — Henry Ford

“Even the most careful and expensive marketing plans cannot sell people a book they don’t want to read.” — Michael Korda, former Editor-in-Chief at Simon & Schuster

“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” — Aristotle

“Books work as an art form (and an economic one) because they are primarily the work of an individual.” — Seth Godin

“The amount of money you make will always be in direct proportion to the demand for what you do, your ability to do it, and the difficulty of replacing you.” — Earl Nightingale

If these words of wisdom don’t resonate with you big time, I doubt very much if you can ever be truly successful as a self-published author.

For the record, I have come up with 75 to 100 of my own unique marketing techniques that 99 percent of authors and book marketing experts are not creative or smart enough to come up with. I have used similar unique marketing techniques to get over 111 books deals with various foreign publishers around the world without the use of a North American foreign rights agent. These techniques involve what my competitors are NOT doing — instead of what my competitors are doing.

So useful, thanks. It makes sense to me that while traditional media is under siege, they’ll be less responsive to indie or small authors. So we have to think out of the box. Thanks so much, Monica. And I love to read and eat, so I’m eager to check out your book. Wish you lived closer to me so I could sample your food at the same time!